Qin Mian opened his eyes and found himself lying in a leaky thatched cottage. The problem was that he was still in his family’s villa beforehand! What’s more, there was another man lying next to his leg in the quilt!

“You, you, who are you?”

The man sat up quietly, his upper body exposed as he looked at Qin Mian for a moment before he carried a worn out bowl with a cracked corner from the low table at the head of the bed. The man said in a muffled voice, “Wife, drink water.”

Qin Mian’s eyes rolled backwards and he passed out...

Qin Mian had a dream that he became a woman. Within the burst of suonas[1], gongs and drums beating, he was forced into a sedan chair to marry a man.

He was scared out of a cold sweat, then woke up and pulled his clothes apart. As soon as he saw a flat chest, he was relieved and laughed at himself, “I’m scaring myself; it’s just a dream..”

Suddenly, he felt something was wrong. How could his clothes be so worn out? And how could he be so swarthy and thin, just like a child of eleven or twelve.

He raised his head hastily and found that he was in a thatched cottage. He jumped to the ground from the bed in fright. The thatched room was only about seven to eight square foot with two of the walls made of clay and the other two walls were merely made of wood, hay and old cloth. There was nothing else in the room except for a wooden bed, a low table at the head of the bed and two wooden boxes. Oh, there was also a red paper-cutout pasted on the wall, which was a big “囍”[2] character. There was no mirror, but when Qin Mian looked at his little arms and calves, he could be sure that this body was not his at all.

A thrill crept up his back. What’s going on? He clearly remembered that he had been in his family’s villa beforehand. Right, he was pushed by Qin Lian. He had rolled down the stairs and hit his head. Very suddenly, he had an incredible idea: Was he dead and reincarnated in someone else’s body?

Qin Mian dared not to believe it. He pinched himself hard but the scene in front of him didn’t change at all, as if it was laughing at him coldly.

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He was completely struck dumb. After a moment of stupefaction, he quickly looked at the pulse point on his left wrist. There was a small, unremarkable black mole there. With a thought in mind, a familiar mysterious world appeared in front of him and he breathed a moment of relieved, his tensed face also eased a lot.

He walked towards the door with great strides and his feet pressed painfully on something hard within two steps. He looked down and saw a pair of skinny black feet without shoes. The ground was full of potholes; it would be a wonder for his feet not to press painfully on something hard. Looking around, there was a pair of straw sandals by the bed. They had been worn for a long time that they were half black. Under the bed were two other pairs of straw sandals, one big and one small, all of which were new. He put on his new straw sandals without hesitation.

When he opened the door, he found that the thatched cottage was built in a yard. At a glance, he could tell that it was built later. A foul smell assailed his nostrils; he could not stand it, so he covered his nose.

“Snort..” A pig in the opposite pigsty looked up at him before lowering its head. Its dirty mouth dug the vegetable leaves scattered in the rice straws. And there’s a big pile of shit next to those few vegetable leaves.

Qin Mian’s mouth twitched as he walked to the tightly shut main house. He pushed open the door and called out; the unfamiliar voice was a little hoarse, “Is anyone there?”

No one answered.

He raised his voice and called out again. He could not help frowning when he didn’t get an answer. This body was too inferiorly aching, limp and weak. He merely shouted a few words but it was like he had exhausted all his strength. He couldn’t help wondering if this body was sick?

Looking to the right, there was a closed entrance door. The entrance door was made of several planks nailed together and he could faintly see gleam of light appeared from the cracks of the planks.

Qin Mian opened the entrance door and walked several steps to escape the stink in the pigsty. A gust of wind came gently and the fresh air made him greedily take a few mouthfuls of air.

On the left side of the sky hung a half height –unbeknownst whether it was morning or setting– sun. The sun shone on the green verdant trees reflected the rays of light and with the sway of the wind, it looked like glittering gold. Several chimneys erected in the rows of houses not far away from each other and the smoke from the chimneys spiraled up to the sky. Looking up, there was a large field in the distance; green crops blown by the wind set off long green waves. In the field, the farmers bent their backs and went busy; the cows swung their tails while eating grass on the ridge. Further away was a tall green mountain with green trees stacked on top of each other. Faint smog curled around the mountainside made it looked like a fairyland. From unknown direction, came fuzzy noises, which were mixed with the cry of cattle and sheep, and the bark of dog but contrarily, it reflected the tranquility of this village even more.

What a nice little village.

If not for Qin Mian hadn’t figured out his situation, he wouldn’t mind strolling around the village. He had lived in the reinforced concrete forest for a long time, such a small village was just what he liked.

At this time, an old woman of about 60 year old came from behind a pile of haystacks, with a basket on her right arm which contained some wet clothes.

As soon as Qin Mian saw the old woman’s hair bun and ancient clothes, his heart was thumping. Could it be that he not only reincarnated in someone else’s body, but also went to ancient era?

It was not easy to see a person and he was wondering whether to go up and test out the old woman but the old woman suddenly stepped up and came straight to him. Her expression was very bad and her two thin lips were tightly pursed, showing a thread of mean aura.

“Since you have woken up, why don’t you feed the pigs? Standing here to watch the scenery, ah?”

Qin Mian internally said; really am watching the scenery. Seeing that the old woman had indeed entered the courtyard he had just come out of, he did not know what the relationship between him and the old woman was currently. He had to pinch his nose and as he walked in, his stomach rumbled like thunder booming.

He’s hungry.

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Du Shi was going to dry the clothes on the rope, but when she heard that there was no movement behind her, she turned her waist and glared as she roared with rage, “Eldest family’s, you are dead, ah! Go feed the pigs quickly!”

“Eldest family’s son or eldest family’s what?” Qin Mian thought. Except for the old woman, he was the only one here and granted that he didn’t want to endure the old woman’s shout, but it was about him. So, he could only sigh and walk there.

Du Shi glanced at him, “Feed the pigs!”

“Can’t.” Qin Mian smiled gently, “I have to trouble you to teach me.”

Du Shi’s face sank as soon as she heard it. She looked around, picked up a worn out broom and whipped it towards Qin Mian’s body. “Can’t? Can you eat or not? Are you trying to piss me off?”

Qin Mian was shocked. He reached for the broom while internally though whether the old woman was ill to have hitting someone before saying a word? But he forgot that he was about 11-12 year old at most and with his very poor health, he was severely tugged by the old woman. The pain on his hands made his grips loose and his bum sat on the ground.

“How dare you fight back? Return to you.” Du Shi raised the broom and whipped at him again.

Qin Mian’s face coldly sunk, but he didn’t have the strength to dodge. He internally thought; what a bad luck, I’m afraid I’m going to suffer for a bit. The old woman looked old, but she was very strong.

The awaiting pain did not fall onto Qin Mian, but he saw Du Shi’s face frowned unsightly while looking behind him.

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Qin Mian looked back and saw the broom was gripped by a tall man. He seemed to have seen this man somewhere before.

“Mother, he is my wife.”

Qin Mian coughed violently. No wonder he felt that he had seen the man; it was precisely the man who had handed him water and called him “wife” last night!

Note:

[1] Chinese shawm (oboe), used in festivals and processions or for military purposes

[2] Double happiness